Plan, Work, Stress, Sleep
by DinerGuy
Summary: 2018 reboot. After everything that had happened the past two days, it was no wonder he was falling asleep sitting up. Missing scenes/Tag scene for 02.06 "Lie, Cheat, Steal, Kill"


_A/N: __While I'm not... dissatisfied with the way they wrote the ending of this recent episode (although I'm not exactly happy about the breakup happening so soon), I couldn't help thinking how tired Magnum and Higgins must have been! And then all of the emotional stuff that went down with Kumu and then for Magnum with Abby... I couldn't not write something after all of that!_

_Thanks to frankiemcstein for her help with the title (or, as she called it, "The Four Steps to Any Magnum-Run Investigation") and to both her and OllieCollie for encouragement that what I had written actually worked. xD_

_Standard disclaimers apply._

* * *

Yawning, Magnum ran a hand over his face. He was trying his best to concentrate on the movie and Rick and T.C.'s banter, but it was getting harder and harder to keep his eyes open. Although, to be honest, it was no wonder he was falling asleep sitting up right then.

It had been a while since he'd pulled an all-nighter. Not like this one, anyway. Sure, he stayed up on the occasional stakeout, but then he was _usually_ able to catch up on his sleep the next day. The whole misadventure with Max the cat had been one notable exception, but, between the painkillers after his literal run-in with the car and all of the caffeine he'd consumed during that case, it had taken some time for the exhaustion to really kick in. Which it had in the wee hours of the morning after he'd finally hauled himself and Nadella onto the life raft.

Yeah, staying up all night was definitely harder now than it had been back when he'd been running missions in the Navy.

And, just like the missing cat case had been, this case had been a lot more draining than he had expected when he'd taken it. For one, he'd ended up hiking through the jungle and digging up an old grave—not exactly the most leisurely activity. And then, after he'd realized Conlan's first book had been published after the approximate year of their Jane Doe's death, he had been so determined to find the clue that he'd sat up and read the entire novel cover-to-cover—and that was _not _an easy feat considering how thick the book was.

He had to admit, Higgins' observation that he looked "bleary-eyed" that morning had been pretty accurate. He'd _felt_ bleary, not to mention the way his eyes had been burning and he'd felt like he was dragging himself across the room to slump in the chair in front of the desk. The shock over the fake "bacon" had woken him up a little, and the large cup of coffee he'd downed on his way to meet Noelani had helped his concentration somewhat—although he hadn't noticed he'd misspelled "coupon" until she'd pointed it out, so maybe he was lagging more than he'd thought.

He'd noticed how tired Higgins had looked at her desk when he'd walked in early that morning—when he'd stolen part of her weird, vegan breakfast—but he hadn't said anything out loud. It seemed like she'd stayed up doing research as well. Her question—"Were you up all night as well?"—had confirmed it, but he'd just answered and moved on to discussing the case. And then their investigation had taken off, and both he and Higgins had been much too busy to even think of trying to nap. Along with plenty of coffee, the adrenaline of the case—the thrill of the chase, Higgins would probably call it—had kept them going throughout the day.

After it had been decided that Kumu would go undercover as Wendy's mother to help catch Conlan, Magnum hadn't even tried to sleep. He understood her reasoning and so he hadn't protested when she'd volunteered, but he really didn't like the idea of her in danger. He didn't even like the idea of Higgins in danger, but she could handle herself; Kumu, on the other hand, was _not_ former MI6.

Katsumoto had promised to let them know the minute there was a plan in place, with how involved Magnum and Higgins already were and Kumu being the one going in. While they waited for that information from HPD, Magnum and Abby had gone back over all of their notes on Conlan; they wanted to be sure there was nothing in his history that might be a red flag for the operation.

Meanwhile, Higgins had sat down with Kumu to coach the older woman on undercover work. By the time she'd shooed Kumu away to get a good night's sleep, Katsumoto was calling Magnum with an update on the operation, and Magnum, Abby, and Higgins had jumped right into going over the details of the detective's plan.

Abby had excused herself after a few hours of reviewing the plan and bid the others good night. "Get some rest, Thomas," she'd told him as she'd kissed him goodbye, then she'd waved at Higgins and headed home.

As the door had closed behind her, Magnum and Higgins had just looked at each other and then dove right back into their work. They both knew there was no way they'd sleep a wink that night, not with so much at stake. If even one thing went wrong in the morning… well, that wasn't going to happen. And so they'd pored over the hotel's blueprints and the locations of the security cameras, memorized the faces of the officers who were going in with Kumu, reviewed the plan and the backup plans and tossed around scenarios with each other as they picked the entire thing apart. It wasn't that they didn't trust Katsumoto and his men, but they weren't taking any chances with Kumu's safety.

The minute the fire alarm had blared at the hotel while they were waiting for Conlan, Magnum had started to get a sinking feeling. This was one of the dozens of ways he and Higgins had considered things could go wrong, but they'd concluded the sheer number of people in the lobby would mean someone would see if something happened. Instead, everything had gone very, _very _wrong, and they'd almost lost Kumu.

Which all went to explain how, after the adrenaline rush of the rescue and taking down Conlan that afternoon, Magnum was completely wiped out. And that was before Abby had shown up at La Mariana to tell him she was moving to the mainland and that their relationship was over. She'd tried to let him down gently, but it had still hit him like a punch to the gut. He hadn't seen it coming, and he didn't quite know how to process it.

He hadn't said anything to his friends when he'd gone back to the table because he really hadn't known what to say. They were all laughing and having a good time, but he was at a loss for how to handle what had just happened. He'd been in relationships that had ended before, sure, but this was the first time since Hannah—and that relationship had _definitely _not ended well. A nagging doubt started to creep into his mind, and he wondered if his feelings of betrayal over what she'd done had somehow affected what he'd had with Abby.

She'd told him she didn't think she was the right girl for him… were his struggles to move past Hannah still so visible that they were affecting his relationships even now?

The questions haunted him, and he hadn't been able to calm his thoughts long enough to try to sleep. Blame emotions, blame insomnia, blame whatever… but it was nearly midnight, and he was still wide awake

So when Rick texted that he and T.C. had finished at La Mariana and wanted to know if anyone else was in for a late night movie, Magnum had quickly said yes. The prospect of spending time with his friends certainly beat lying in bed thinking about what he'd just lost…

"You all good, Thomas?" T.C.'s voice interrupted his thoughts.

Magnum blinked as he glanced past Higgy to the other side of the couch where T.C. was sitting. They were in the living room of the main house, Higgins having offered they use the larger space when she'd replied she'd also be game for a film with the others—which made Magnum curious as to why _she _wasn't in bed either, but he hadn't pressed to find out.

"You sure you don't just want to go to bed?" Rick chimed in. "It _is _pretty late; we just assumed…"

Magnum shook his head and smiled. "No, it's fine. I wasn't really planning to sleep before you'd texted anyway."

No one looked like they believed him.

Chuckling, Higgy raised an eyebrow. "And I suppose you're going to tell me you were just 'resting your eyes' a moment ago?"

"Yes," he replied after a moment, unable to come up with anything more of a response.

Although the others still looked doubtful, no one said anything.

T.C. didn't say anything a few minutes later when Higgins' head drooped against his shoulder, and, when a sharp snore from Magnum's direction made Rick glance over toward the others, he didn't say anything either.

The friends just exchanged grins, and Rick quietly got up to retrieve two blankets, which he tucked gently around the sleeping figures. T.C. helped pull the corner snugly around Higgy, pausing when she shifted but then relaxing with a smile when she didn't open her eyes and just settled back against him.

If, when the sound of birdsong woke her a few hours after the others had turned off the TV and left, Higgins found herself cushioned against a stack of throw pillows tucked against the side of the couch and looked over to find a snoring Magnum sprawled out on the other end of the sofa, she didn't say anything. She just tiptoed for her bedroom and quietly closed the door, taking advantage of her blackout shades to get a little more sleep before she had to get up to start her workday.

If Magnum woke to sunlight in his eyes an hour later and realized he was still on the couch in the main house, he didn't even question it. Despite being tempted to just roll over and pull a pillow over his head, he dragged himself up and back to the guest house. He wanted to get at least another few hours of shut-eye before having to face the new day, and something told him he wouldn't get much once the Dobermans woke up and came sniffing around.

And if Rick and T.C. had photos on their phones that they had already sent to The Ohana Thread, neither Higgins nor Magnum would see them until well into the day after they'd caught up on a little of the sleep they owed themselves—after which they would demand their friends delete the images even while knowing that was never going to happen.

For the moment, the estate was quiet, and all was peaceful. Until the next case came along, that is.

* * *

_Fin._


End file.
